American Proposal for Jewish Homeland, January
21, 1919

Outline of Tentative Report and Recommendations
of the Intelligence Section of the American Delegation to the Peace Conference,
in accordance with instructions, for the President and the Plenipotentiaries,
January 21, 1919*

26. Palestine.

It is recommended: 1)
That there be established a separate state of Palestine.

2) That this state be
placed under Great Britain as a mandatory of the League of Nations.

3) That the Jews be invited
to return to Palestine and settle there being assured by the Conference
of an proper assistance in so doing that may be consistent with the protection
of the personal (especially the religious) and the property rights of the
non-Jewish population, and being further assured that it will be the policy
of the League of Nations to recognise Palestine as a Jewish state as soon
as it is a Jewish state in fact.

4) That the holy places
and religious rights of all creeds in Palestine be placed under the protection
of the League of Nations and its mandatory.

Discussion.

1) It is recommended
that there be established a separate state of Palestine.

The separation of the
Palestinian area from Syria finds justification in the religious experience
of mankind. The Jewish and Christian churches were born in Palestine, and
Jerusalem was for long years, at different periods, the capital of each.
And while the relation of the Mohammedans to Palestine is not so intimate,
from the beginning they have regarded Jerusalem as a holy place. Only by
establishing Palestine as a separate state can justice be done to these
great facts.

As drawn upon the map,
the new state would control *Quoted in David Hunter Miller, My Diary at
the Conference of Paris, Vol. iv, pp. 263-264.

its own source Of water
power and irrigation, on Mount Hermon in the east to the Jordan; a feature
of great importance since the success of the new state would depend upon
the possibilities of agricultural development.

2) It is recommended
that this state be placed under Great Britain as a mandatory of the League
of Nations.

Palestine would obviously
need wise and firm guidance. Its population is without political experience,
is racially composite, and could easily become distracted by fanaticism
and bitter religious differences.

The success of Great
Britain in dealing with similar situations, her relation to Egypt, and
her administrative achievements since General Allenby freed Palestine from
the Turk, all indicate her as the logical mandatory.

3) It is recommended
that the Jews be invited to return to Palestine and settle there, being
assured by the Conference of all proper assistance in so doing that may
be consistent with the protection of the personal (especially the religious)
and the property rights of the non-Jewish population, and being further
assured that it will be the policy of the League of Nations to recognise
Palestine as a Jewish state as soon as it is a Jewish state in fact.

It is right that Palestine
should become a Jewish state, if the Jews, being given the full opportunity,
make it such. It was the cradle and home of their vital race, which has
made large spiritual contributions to mankind, and is the only land in
which they can hope to find a home of their own; they being in this last
respect unique among significant peoples.

At present, however,
the Jews form barely a sixth of the total population of 700,000 in Palestine,
and whether they are to form a majority, or even a plurality, of the population
in the future state remains uncertain. Palestine, in short, is far from
being a Jewish country now. England, as mandatory, can be relied on to
give the Jews the privileged position they should have without sacrificing
the rights of non-Jews.

4) It is recommended
that the holy places and religious rights of all creeds in Palestine be
placed under the protection of the League of Nations and its mandatory.

The basis for this recommendation
is self-evident.

This page was produced by Joseph
E. KatzMiddle Eastern Political and Religious
History Analyst Brooklyn, New York E-mail
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